We got Nexus, our GS pup back in mid-December. It has unfortunately been a very trying number of months. Glimmers of hope quickly overshadowed by serious setbacks.

First big issue is crate training. He was doing good for a little big only having some occasional accidents. But as time is progressing it's getting worse and worse. It's typical now for him to have one to two poop accidents and one to three pee accidents in a day. It's gotten to the point that he does not even bark a lot of times when he does go pee in his crate and he ends up lying in it. And there is just no way that I can afford to take him out every 30 minutes and spend 15 minutes with him outside. We are a busy family, I work two jobs. It's just not practical.

And it's not like he does not know how to hold it in. There have been more than a few occasions where he will hold it overnight, or when we are at work. I am just not getting why he is so inconsistently bad at potty training.

Which rolls into the second issue. It's very difficult to have him spend much time outside his crate. He is constantly jumping on furniture, on people. While i correct him (we are using a pin collar for his training) he does not seem to learn from that. He is constantly eating and nipping at everything. Unless I am literally doing nothing, which means me sitting in a chair in the living room, lead on with collar, I cannot keep him calm enough to relax. It's so frustrating because I want him to spend far more time out his crate, but he acts up when he is out and there is not much I can do.

I am just so frustrated with this. As a kid growing up I had 3 GS (all 1 year old or more) so I never had to deal with the early puppy stage issues. It's is a massive challenge while also being a dad to two kids, and IT Manager, a DJ, and trying to deal with the day to days of everything.

I have a czech/ddr , and at that age, she'd be bouncing off the walls if I had only spent that amount of time with her daily.

It sounds like you have a busy schedule, but I think unless you start exercising more, and enroll in an obedience class , you are going to continue seeing issues.

He needs consistency, exercise, obedience training and more time spent with you doing those things.

You said there isn't much you can do, maybe with your schedule you can't, but honestly I think if you want to be able to live with this dog, your going to have to committ yourself to devoting more time to him..Just my opinion..

Let me get this straight, you are working two jobs, waiting for the puppy to bark to take him out of his crate to potty, he is having five accidents a day in his crate, you are usuing a prong collar on a baby puppy, and you won't let him out of the crate much because he acts up jumping, nipping.

the dog is getting two 15-22.5 minute exercise sessions per day.

You need to call the breeder and GIVE the pup back. That's right, don't expect to get money back from her. Give the puppy back so she can work with it and find it a new home.

I also agree with Sue,,,if you love him, do right by him, and while you may not get a refund, again, do what's right for the dog and if returning him is the route to go, take it as a lesson learned. again just my opinion

That is something I really would not want to do. Despite my frustrations I do love him.

And I would not get a refund, so we would be out thousands (he is a pure bred from the Czech working lines).

So, you wanted a police-dog? A protection-dog? A sheep-herding dog -- one that is going to be out with the sheep 14-16 hours per day, running, herding, working?

And you have a grand 45 minutes a day for training/exercise?

The dog should not live in crate lying in pee and pooping in there because you were not prepared for a puppy.

I think you should give it up, or totally change your outlook.

Your puppy is NORMAL. Puppies are not easy. They need time. Lots of time. The dog needs to be out of that crate. It needs to interact with you for hours a day. All evening long it should be out chewing on your leg, playing tug, playing with toys, chasing the ball, and curled up next to your side.

You need to be taking this puppy out frequently. There is no other way to house train him. Leaving him in his crate is abusive. You need to find a different solution.

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